paws on the ground

Wisconsin Hounders Chasing Bears Near Golf Course and Homes in Sawyer County

These bear hunters were caught operating amidst a densely populated area clearly posted closed to hunting and trespassing. You can hear the bear hunters on the radio rationalizing that because there is national forest lands behind the homes, they believe they can loose their hounds in the area.

When a local resident is told Wolf Patrol is monitoring bear hunters suspected of trespassing in the area, he replies, “Sounds good!”

Bear hounds trespassing where they are not wanted is common in this part of the national forest, where hound hunters travel from the southern part of the state, unfamiliar with roads and property boundaries, yet desperate to fill their bear tags before their hunting weekend is over.

Wolf Patrol found these three hound trucks desperately trying to find their dogs, even though they are wearing GPS collars. In Sawyer County, near Barker and Hunter Lakes, bear hounds will follow a bear out of the national forest and onto private lands where local residents have lodged dozens of complaints of dogs at large.

Wolf Patrol was monitoring these particular bear hunters because they are not only causing violent conflicts with federally protected gray wolves with their hounds, but also local residents who don’t want the dogs on their properties.

Its this kind of problem hunting that has led Wolf Patrol to ask that Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest officials end the practice of bear baiting and bear hound hunting and training in our national forests.